I have been sitting on nearly 8 stories and since 2013 will be an off publishing year for my company, I decided that I will take the opportunity and publish a new book.
The Heiress Heart was originally intended as a romance. But before you completely walk away, as a story, I had to try this one. And what I found was not romance, but I found a healing family instead. It drew upon my reserves about legacy and what really is important ultimately.
Expect the final story around August.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
The Curse of an Addict
I am an addict. I am addicted to technology. So on Saturday when my main computer refused to POST (it's a technical term that refers to the fact whether or not your computer will actually turn on), there was a bit of a frantic chaos. Most of the chaos was swirling around the fact that I couldn't just fix it on Saturday (we had to wait a day).
I have multiple systems, but the problem is: as a writer and an illustrator: I have "the best" material on one machine. The good news, the harddrives were safe. None of my written work or my drawn work was destroyed in the creation of a new computer. This is the second computer ever I have ever had go "poof" as the description lay best explained. All of my other machines have lived good lives doing the best they can until I sold them on ebay or to other people until they were no longer useful.
So now, I sit on a brand new machine, dealing with the mess that can only be described as messier than the actual death of computer. Not only did I get new parts, I completely upgraded from my preferred operating system (Windows XP). So there's installing and reinstalling, and updates that never happened and the updates that had happened are abandoned and so for each program it is nearly 3-5 hours of updates and restarts.
As a writer all I can do is sit and wait. As an addict, every little second extra makes me nervous.
I have multiple systems, but the problem is: as a writer and an illustrator: I have "the best" material on one machine. The good news, the harddrives were safe. None of my written work or my drawn work was destroyed in the creation of a new computer. This is the second computer ever I have ever had go "poof" as the description lay best explained. All of my other machines have lived good lives doing the best they can until I sold them on ebay or to other people until they were no longer useful.
So now, I sit on a brand new machine, dealing with the mess that can only be described as messier than the actual death of computer. Not only did I get new parts, I completely upgraded from my preferred operating system (Windows XP). So there's installing and reinstalling, and updates that never happened and the updates that had happened are abandoned and so for each program it is nearly 3-5 hours of updates and restarts.
As a writer all I can do is sit and wait. As an addict, every little second extra makes me nervous.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
No, Seriously, I Am Always Writing
As someone who works in a public school 5 days a week for over 190 days a year in the past 2 years, I have tried to convey to my students that one really does need to know how to write. While the English teachers that I work with admire the direction I have tried to put a spin on the importance of skill building, I sometimes get the idea that no one really knows exactly what I do and how much of "it" I do.
Seriously: I am always writing.
I write as I am falling asleep. I write as I'm going to work, even when I cannot write, whole chunks of sentences form in my head before I even get a chance to pick up a pencil and actually write them down.
I used to write poetry quite a bit.
I still write short stories and novels.
I will always be writing on Project Alpha, the project with no end in sight darned illustrations.
Pictures still are valued at 1000 words. At least. My own hand is much more steady these days.
But I'm always finding an outlet forcing myself to express the ideas in my head that have been placed there by something I've seen or trying to experience or put words to an expeience that I do not quite understand.
The nebulous way my mind wants to work is not much unlike a web one might teach students to use to write with. But it happens in clearer and clearer chunks the more I work at my craft.
I was most recently asked why I hadn't gone into the English department as a major in college instead of heading to Architecture school. And I will be honest: there isn't a lot of money there. But I don't care about making money, not in the way that I don't want to make money, but in the way that money is not the primary decision guide. Architecture was a means to another skill of communication. And I have been able to control a lot of things that I probably would not have been able to without having been formally trained in the visual skills that are required of architecture.
I always was mistified by my friends and aquantances being stimied by the direction to write. I always found it the easiest thing in the world to string words together. I'm not an expert at it and sometimes my direction is more of a stab than a gentle curve. But the words will come.
But always looking for a chance to explain is what is in my head is always the goal. So I am always writing.
Seriously: I am always writing.
- I write emails for the company, I write emails to my co-workers, I write emails to my friends
- I write short stories
- I write reviews for items and books for a variety of stores
- I write modified texts to let my students access the curriculum
- I write process charts (somtimes also called scaffolds or task charts)
- I write for 4 separate blogs (yes I am crazy)
- I write at least two status updates to FB daily.
- I write text messages to my friends
- I write sample items for my students to refer to when am not with them
- I write
- and I write
- and I write.
I write as I am falling asleep. I write as I'm going to work, even when I cannot write, whole chunks of sentences form in my head before I even get a chance to pick up a pencil and actually write them down.
I used to write poetry quite a bit.
I still write short stories and novels.
I will always be writing on Project Alpha, the project with no end in sight darned illustrations.
Pictures still are valued at 1000 words. At least. My own hand is much more steady these days.
But I'm always finding an outlet forcing myself to express the ideas in my head that have been placed there by something I've seen or trying to experience or put words to an expeience that I do not quite understand.
The nebulous way my mind wants to work is not much unlike a web one might teach students to use to write with. But it happens in clearer and clearer chunks the more I work at my craft.
I was most recently asked why I hadn't gone into the English department as a major in college instead of heading to Architecture school. And I will be honest: there isn't a lot of money there. But I don't care about making money, not in the way that I don't want to make money, but in the way that money is not the primary decision guide. Architecture was a means to another skill of communication. And I have been able to control a lot of things that I probably would not have been able to without having been formally trained in the visual skills that are required of architecture.
I always was mistified by my friends and aquantances being stimied by the direction to write. I always found it the easiest thing in the world to string words together. I'm not an expert at it and sometimes my direction is more of a stab than a gentle curve. But the words will come.
But always looking for a chance to explain is what is in my head is always the goal. So I am always writing.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Stick Figures
I just posted my first adapted book for sale.
Yes, it is Romeo and Juliet as envisioned as stick figures. While you laugh at it, pause for a moment and ask yourself how many times you had to draw something and you resorted to stick figures to figure it out.
Adaptations do not have to be pretty. But they have to be able to be maintained and archived well. So those little scraps of paper or the fact you adapt on the fly every time for each student is just not efficient. That's the idea behind Project Beta and Project Alpha. Taking away that time you will spend trying to make it new again even for a student who might be in the same academic bracket as another.
This seems a huge departure for me both artistically and as a writer. But I had to put this out because I believe in the power of adapted materials for students with disabilities. I want my student, despite the fact that he or she may make unusually noises in the classroom, to feel a part of their grade, of their classmate's angst, to be held accountable for the classroom's activities. I want staff to not feel stifled at their work because they do not have the best skills in drawing, or perhaps writing. But all these things intersect, here at ParaEducate. That's why I keep working.
And why I will eventually print a new book soon. Something that might not be an entire series unto itself.
Yes, it is Romeo and Juliet as envisioned as stick figures. While you laugh at it, pause for a moment and ask yourself how many times you had to draw something and you resorted to stick figures to figure it out.
Adaptations do not have to be pretty. But they have to be able to be maintained and archived well. So those little scraps of paper or the fact you adapt on the fly every time for each student is just not efficient. That's the idea behind Project Beta and Project Alpha. Taking away that time you will spend trying to make it new again even for a student who might be in the same academic bracket as another.
This seems a huge departure for me both artistically and as a writer. But I had to put this out because I believe in the power of adapted materials for students with disabilities. I want my student, despite the fact that he or she may make unusually noises in the classroom, to feel a part of their grade, of their classmate's angst, to be held accountable for the classroom's activities. I want staff to not feel stifled at their work because they do not have the best skills in drawing, or perhaps writing. But all these things intersect, here at ParaEducate. That's why I keep working.
And why I will eventually print a new book soon. Something that might not be an entire series unto itself.
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